Thanks to Luis at Amoeba San Francisco for this week's top five, which finds in the number one position the ever outspoken, no holds barred 20 year old Tyler The Creator of LA's much hyped collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (aka OFWFKTA) with the major label follow up to his attention grabbing debut two years ago. As this website so accurately writes of this new release: "He goes all in for riveting rap polemics—misogyny, tomfoolery, psychiatric ranting, and general anti-PC entropy—but his one constant is simply thought provocation. The spitter of alt hip-hop act OFWGKTA dropped his basement recording Bastard in late 2009 like lyrical shrapnel, a shrink chair diatribe that endeared itself to lovers of cerebral rap. That one went boom. His major label debut Goblin magnifies in intensity and raw verbiage, and if you don’t believe it, check out the video of the single "Yonkers" and prepare to have your cage rattled." The video for "Yonkers" -- currently at almost 10 million YouTube views is immediately below.

The new album from the most successful band in indie rap music expands upon the sound that they built with their live band on "To All My Friends/Blood Makes the Blade Holy.” The result? The Family Sign: A series of daring and memorable songs that take their musicianship to the next level.

These guys have built their fan base from the ground up through years of constant touring, so it's always nice to see them getting the support they rightfully deserve.

Bay Area favorite Del’s new album is probably the best deal you’ll get on a hip hop CD in 2011. The package contains three full length CDs for the price of one, setting Del’s brand new unreleased recording Golden Era next to two albums previously only available in digital formats, Automatik Statik and Funk Man. The two free albums you get in the package are solid in their own right, and Golden Era continues the tradition of quality that Heiroglyphics fans have come to know Del for.

Not surprisingly, the new Zion I & The Grouch album has become a major seller at Amoeba’s Bay Area locations. Both Zion I & The Grouch command a huge amount of respect in the local scene, largely thanks to their work ethic and the consistent quality of their recordings. They’ve garnered a lot of national attention in recent years, but the Bay continues to remain their greatest supporters.

Hot on the heels of the new Zion I & The Grouch album is the latest from Pharoahe Monch, one of the more technically talented MCs in hip-hop as far as voice and cadence go, and who has released a number of great recordings solo and in his group Organized Konfusion. This new one takes Monch back to his indie roots, pitting him against an exciting cast of producers and keeping things progressive in terms of his style and approach.

Holding its major selling position from last week is Lupe’s new one, which continues to receive a large amount of media attention as it walks the fine line between radio friendly pop music and conscious hip-hop.

E-40 is another Bay Area legendwho’s always on his grind, and his recent release of two new albums in the Revenue Retrievin series seems to indicate that he’s not planning on slowing down any time soon. The Overtime Shift of the series features Bay Area favorites J-Stalin, B-Legit and The Click, as well as a guest shot from the one and only Devin the Dude. The last time E-40 put out two albums simultaneously, they both went through individual periods of selling quickly, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Revenue Retrivin': Graveyard Shift ends up on one of these lists in the near future as well.

Welcome to another installment in the Amoeblog Hip-Hop History series that takes a look back at rap/hip-hop album and singles charts from previous decades. Last month's Hip-Hop History chart showcased a Top 30 Hip-Hop Singles chart from February/March 1993. This time we flashback to a year earlier, March 1992, for both a Top 15 Hip-Hop Albums Chart and a Top 15 Hip-Hop Singles Chart both courtesy of The Sourcemagazine's March '92 issue.

Considering the delayed turnaround period for magazines (from writing to actual publishing/street date) and the fact that many records stay on the charts for several weeks or even months (especially back then), you may notice that some of these March 1992 chart entries such as Ice Cube or Black Sheep were actually released in late 1991. You will also notice, as with the previous chart, which also hailed from the so-called "golden age" of hip-hop, that damn near every release on each chart is a quality one that has stood the test of time. The charts were based on a combination of sales and the tastes of the editorial staff and some of its writers (which included myself) at the time.

Any longtime Bay Area music fan knew and loved the long gone Berkeley record store Leopold Records (circa '68 - '96), which used to be located at 2518 Durant in the block above Telegraph Ave. and down from Bowditch Street. Back in the day you could go spend lots of time (and money) as the hours slipped past and you got lost digging in their never-ending rows of music, invariably getting assistance along the way from the store's dedicated staff, who really knew their stuff and were more than happy to share that musical knowledge.

At one point, Oakland emcee Del tha Funkee Homosapien even worked at Leopold! The store, for Bay Area rap fans, was the number one destination when you wanted to get the latest hip-hop releases. The store also had many artists stop by, including MC Lyte (pictured above) and Saafir, who once did an in-store (well, technically an out-store, since it was right outside the building) at Leopold. (See video clip in the second part of this two-part Leopold Records' Amoeblog.) Scroll down below to see Joan Baez at a Leopold instore performance from 1993, singing a version of "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" that includes, much to the crowd's delight, a spot-on imitation of Bob Dylan. Michael Jackson even did made an appearance at Leopold's back in his heyday.

Leopold's many former employees went on to other music industry positions: former rap buyer Daria Kelly now works at Six Degrees Records in San Francisco. Read her Amoeblog interview recalling Leopold Records' role in the hip-hop community in Part II of this Amoeblog remembering Leopold's.
Many Amoeba Music employees also worked at Leopold's and consequently, it seems, have carried over that tradition of truly caring about the business that they are in. Amoeba Music's Karen P (in pics both above & below) is one of those people who used to be a part of Leopold's. I recently asked her if she thought there was a connection between her old place of employment and Amoeba Music. She replied: "Yes, there definitely is a connection, both philosophically and in spirit. Part of it might be that much of the beginning (and even current) Amoeba staff started at Leopold's." Karen listed some of those individuals as Mark Beaver (in B&W picture below), Craig Bishop, Lisa Loomis, Stacy Young, Roxanne (in MC Lyte pic), Barbara Ballesteros, and Lynne Brady. (Read Amoebite Lynne Brady's wonderful stream-of-consciousness rap recollections of Leopold in Part II of this Amoeblog -- to be posted tomorrow, Friday.)